MADISON, Wis.–A judge has ruled a class action settlement related to fees tied to the Credit Union Retirement Plan Association 401(k) needs some work before he will sign off on it.

The $570,000 settlement involves at least 1,000 people who participated in the plan and who were employees of California Coast Credit Union in San Diego and FirstLight FCU in El Paso, Texas. 

The litigation initially sought to involve as many as 9,000 plan participants and 100 employers before it was trimmed back by a federal court that denied a motion for class certification for former participating in the retirement plan offered through the Credit Union Retirement Plan Association. 

The case dates back to 2022 and alleges allegations the organization did not objectively and adequately review the plan’s investment portfolio to ensure each option included fair costs and had inadequate recordkeeping, among other allegations.

‘Almost No Information’

Judge James D. Peterson has now ruled that the parties provided “almost no information” about how they arrived at the settlement figure and failed to explain why they allocated 70% of the deal to employees of FirstLight Federal Credit Union and only 30% to employees of California Coast Credit Union.

In addition, the judge said they further failed to justify the attorneys’ fees expected to be awarded and didn’t provide other details. Those issues will need to be satisfactorily